In asymmetric warfare the focus is often about irregular warfare and little about regular warfare. This study focuses on asymmetric regular warfare and Arreguín-Tofts theory about how the weak win wars. His theory has a hypothesis that in asymmetric wars, with direct methods, the strong actor would win directly and decisive over the weak actor. The purpose of this study is to examine if combat engineering can provide the weak defensive actor with time. The study uses case study of the Swedish definition of combat engineering, to examine if it did occur during the Winter War. And if combat engineering did, had it any effect on the results of the Winter War. The overwhelming purpose of this study is to contribute to a discourse about combat support. Also illustrate that combat engineering is not always an established determinant, despite its effect in the results of war. The findings of the study are that combat engineering did occur during the Winter War. Combat engineering did provide the Finnish soldier with protection against artillery fire and delayed the attack of the Soviets tanks during the winter war.

With the evolving geopolitical situation and Sweden´s recent NATO integration, the understanding of Host nation supports multifaceted role is increasingly vital. Previous research lacks a theory regarding host nation support. The purpose of this thesis is to seek a better understanding on host nation support and to initiate a theoretical framework on the subject. By employing a method of hypothetical deductive approach, the study analyzes identified factors such as deterrence, planning, transit, infrastructure, and civil support. The factors were identified from previous research and motivated with theories from military science and the authors reasoning. The theoretical framework has it´s grounds in the authors reasoning that deterrence is the purpose of host nation support and the other factors are contributory to it. The analysis centers on the cases Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf war. The result confirms various of the factors contribution to the deterrence in host nation support in the specific cases and that there are complementary factors involved also.